Prayer for the Day

by Revd Canon David White

2nd November 2025 - All Saints' Day

            Teach me, my God and King,
            In all things thee to see,
And what I do in any thing,
            To do it as for thee:

             All may of thee partake:
             Nothing can be so mean,
Which with his tincture (for thy sake)
             Will not grow bright and clean.

             A servant with this clause
             Makes drudgerie divine:
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
             Makes that and th’ action fine.

             This is the famous stone
             That turneth all to gold:
For that which God doth touch and own
             Cannot for lesse be told.

These verses of the poet priest George Herbert (1593 – 1633) are part of a longer poem that he wrote. They are now sung as a hymn but they can equally be used as a prayer for God to make us aware that we see him in all things and as we live out our lives doing even the most mundane tasks. Such awareness even “makes drudgerie divine”.

There is an echo here of Brother Lawrence, the 17th century Carmelite friar, who, in the book of his collected teachings called “The Practice of the Presence of God”, famously refers to experiencing this awareness of God’s presence even when he was washing dishes in the monastery kitchen.

George Herbert and Br Lawrence, in different ways, make clear that being in the presence of God is for everyone. All of us can meet with God whatever it is we do. God inhabits all of human life and we just need to open our eyes and our minds to see this truth. Whatever we are doing in our day to day lives God is just waiting for us to remember the divine love and presence that are also part of the day to day.